Drought

What used to be a calm stretch of the Yampa River near Craig, Colorado, now boasts a new set of rollicking whitewater rapids.  They’re not the result of some new...

There’s an old catchphrase that Colorado kayak park proponents used in the early 2000s to sell the idea that keeping water in streams mattered just as much as water...

Time is ticking for states that share the shrinking Colorado River to negotiate a new set of governing rules. One major sticking point, which has the potential to thrust...

You’ve heard the news: Farmers and ranchers use roughly 80% of the water in Colorado and much of the American West. So doesn’t it make sense that if growers and...

When researcher Brian Richter set out to take a close look at how big cities in the Western U.S. were adapting to water scarcity, he already knew the story’s...

The Colorado River is in crisis — one of the worst in recorded history. For the past several months, the seven states that use Colorado River water have been trying to come up with a plan to keep the river from collapsing. California is the single largest user of Colorado River water, which means that any effort to save the river involves California making some serious cuts. 

Decades of climate change-driven drought, combined with the overpumping of aquifers, is making the valley desperately dry — and appears to be intensifying the levels of heavy metals in drinking water.

New Mexico once again owes Texas a massive water debt, so water managers are considering resurrecting the original purpose of the channel.

The state’s fixation on oil and gas development threatens the Colorado River watershed.

New Mexico faces tough choices as a dire and historic drought continues and the Rio Grande is unable to give everyone what they want or need.